Elizabeth Banks teams up with funny women for new digital platform
LOS ANGELES -- Elizabeth Banks wants women to finally take their place in the comedy spotlight.
On Monday, the actress-director-writer unveiled WhoHaha, a digital platform that will bring content from funny women to a new destination.
"After years of 90% of taking lead comedy roles and being forced to appear nightly on stand up stages around the globe, we are here to relieve you of your obligations," she said in her video announcement.
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"Bow out, bitches. Here at WhoHaha, our motto is: If men can do it, they probably learned it from a woman. Funny women have been keeping this planet alive for centuries."
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The platform was co-founded by Banks' management company Digital Media Management, which helped create Ashley Tisdale's lifestyle site, Felicity Huffman's quirky mom destination, What the Flicka, and other platforms.
For the platform, Banks will continue her series "Really Important Questions" as well as "Ask a Badass," in which she interviews co-stars such as Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore.
Banks also collaborated with others in the comedy space including YouTubers Hannah Hart and Megan MacKay.
However, Banks' site won't be the first to highlight women on the web.
In December, Veep director and producer Stephanie Laing launched PYPO, which stands for "Put Your Pretty On,” a female-driven comedy website, "designed to engage, inspire and entertain."
Like Laing, Banks feels that there's a void when it came to platforms dedicated to female-geared content.
"There are people doing it really well for boys," she told AdAge. "I just felt like there was not a place that was doing it really, really well, and specifically, for girls and women."
Correction: This post previously incorrectly stated that YouTubers Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart will be creating an original series for the platform. Hannah Hart is not doing a series, but she did collaborate with Banks on a video.
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Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
